🚙 Strong truck and SUV margins, a broader Cadillac lineup hedging both directions, and a real plan to cut tariff exposure all point toward genuine confidence heading into H2. We break down exactly what that means if you're a GM dealer.
🚙 Polestar is officially hitting the brakes on the U.S. market. The Commerce Department banned the brand from selling future models over connected-vehicle national security concerns, and Polestar has decided not to fight it.
🚙 If you're carrying Stellantis inventory in this range, this is a moment to get ahead of the pricing conversation rather than defend the sticker. Customers are already comparing your days-of-supply against your discount publicly. Matching the two builds more trust than either extreme.
🚗 Is Your Brand About to Feel What Volvo Just Felt?
🚙 This is a global story right now, not a U.S. showroom story yet. But it's worth watching closely if you carry a European premium brand: the same pricing and technology pressure squeezing Volvo and BMW in China is the exact pressure already reshaping European markets. It tends not to stay contained to one region for long.
🚙 Organic content builds the trust. Ads multiply it. Running ads without any organic presence isn't a smaller version of the same strategy, it's missing the exact thing that makes the ads convert. Worth noting: TikTok's tone is informal, but the FTC still treats every post as an advertisement, same disclosure standards as any other channel.
🚙 If you're a GM store, that breadth is your actual pitch, there's a lane for nearly every buyer who walks in. If you're VW Group, get specific with your OEM rep now about which models on that list actually hit your allocation before you plan next year's floor plan.
🚙 The Middle East ceasefire ended, and markets reacted fast: the 10-year Treasury jumped to 4.56%, and the Fed's June minutes showed a 12-0 vote to hold rates steady. Markets now put better-than-50% odds on a rate hike by September.
🚙 Dealership websites are handling service scheduling better than phone calls, averaging 71 out of 100 versus 61, according to Pied Piper's study of 4,100+ requests across 31 dealer groups.
🚙 A federal judge dismissed a proposed class-action lawsuit accusing AutoNation of using AI to record, transcribe, and analyze customer calls without consent. The plaintiff argued the practice violated California's strict privacy laws.
🚙 Paragon Honda's Brian Benstock spent his midyear check-in laying out how he's scaling across rooftops, why he thinks F&I is quietly killing repeat business, and where the real service war is actually being fought.
🚙 A 70-store dealer group just admitted out loud that they're "a data company that sells cars," and we can't stop thinking about it. Also today: China's quietly running the R&D show for half the industry, Ram's out here carrying Stellantis on its back, and we sat down with someone who thinks your next ad should stop talking about money.
🚙 A new dealer survey shows short-term profit fear paired with long-term confidence, and where the smart money is already moving. Also today: Toyota bets big on staying close to home, and Slate proves a pricing story is only as strong as whatever protects the number.
🚙 Four data sources just told us the same thing: your shoppers are more confident than last month, but their budgets haven't caught up yet. That gap is where deals get made this week, if you know how to talk about it.
🚙 Sometimes the biggest automotive story isn't about what dealers will sell next year. It's about what manufacturers believe customers will expect ten years from now.
🚙 Today we're separating the headlines from the opportunities. From trade policy and hybrid demand to OEM partnerships and the service lane, we're looking at what's changing, why it matters for dealers, and where you can respond instead of simply react.
🚙 Most stores already have inventory data, transaction data, customer data, and service history. But the real operating knowledge often lives in people. How decisions get made. Who handles exceptions. What standards shape the customer experience? What gets said in coaching sessions, meetings, and hallway conversations.
🚙 Beginning July 14, dealers who don’t properly disclose applicable fees risk losing Deal Ratings and appearing lower in search results. Even if you’re already advertising all-in pricing, it’s worth confirming your inventory feed and CarGurus settings are configured correctly.
🚗 What CDG reminded us about people, AI, and customers
🚙 Our conversation with Yossi Levi went right to the center of dealership operations: marketing, AI, conversion, hospitality, and the people expected to make all of it work.
